Then, slowly, he moved each part of his lower body, starting with his toes and working up to his hips. When they all appeared to work, he sat up carefully. The first thing he did was check on his angel. Across the room, Rissa lay in the chair, her silver eyes open, looking directly at him, but she still wore the hood and the lower half of her face was covered by that mask. She didn't seem to care if her long legs dangled across his chair or that her pants were filthy with dust.
"Good morning, Princess," he said. "Didn't mean to wake you."
Her answer was soft. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."
"God's will," Julie said, making the girl jump.
"They're all Fallen," Sin assured her, gesturing to everyone in the room. "It's ok, Riss. Everyone in here is safe. Means you can take off that mask."
She just shook her head. "I'd rather not." And to prove her point, she reached up to make sure it was secure.
Sin sighed, but what could he do? Asking her why not would only embarrass the poor thing. Most likely, she was worriedabout her employers hearing about this, so he decided to try one more time.
"No one here will tell OutLink, Riss. These are the people I trust. They're the ones helping me, but it's your call."
But Trent huffed at that. "You fucking told her?"
Sin tossed an exasperated look at his friend. "She wouldn't have gone with you otherwise. She's a fucking genius. She wasn't even shocked."
"Much," Rissa added, but she'd still made no move to remove her mask, so Sin decided to give up.
Then Rob groaned. "And I thought dragging Zan into this was bad. A fucking Ingénue?"
Rissa blinked slowly. "The path of the Legion has been changing. I admit, I expected the revolution to start in the lower ranks, not the Legates, but that was before I got to know Sin. His disdain for opulence colors his every thought. From our limited time together, Trent appears to be the same. It's only logical to assume the rest of you agree," she shrugged. "Since you are the ones who risk your lives for those who are weaker, it isn't surprising you're also the ones willing to take the greatest risks for what you think is right."
"Yeah," Julie said, agreeing with her.
"Those are some pretty big assumptions," Davis said.
Sin waved him down. "She doesn't make blind assumptions. It's more true to say she analyzes every possible option faster than we can even think them, and then calculates the probability of each one happening. She also tends to notice a lot of shit she doesn't say a thing about."
"I just have one question." She looked around nervously, but only her pale eyes moved. "Has there been any talk of increasing the Legates?"
"Yeah," Julie said. "Raising the number to fifty."
"What?" Sin asked, his head snapping over to her.
"Joshua told me it was a sanctioned decision yesterday," Julie explained, "but I'm not sure how it could be sanctioned if the Conclave hasn't met."
"So what's he doing, Riss?" Sin asked.
Her eyes dropped to the ground for a little too long. When she finally looked up at him, it sounded like she was changing the subject, but Sin knew better. He'd figured out her ways—finally.
"Did you tell the Praetor my answer?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. Partially because I haven't had a chance to go back to the Legion to speak with him. Partially because I've been nervous about how he'll respond."
"Tell him," she said.
"First," he told her, "I need to talk to your boss about those fucking robes they make you wear. Dressed like you are now? Yeah, you're not nearly as easy to pick out of a crowd."
"Yeah," Trent countered, "but we also had to do a little identity verification at City Hall. Seems they trust the robes more than a priest."
"I don't fucking care," Sin said.
But Rissa mumbled, "I do."
"Why?" he asked. She just shook her head, refusing to answer, so he looked over at Julie. "You want to tell them about the other problem?"
